Sunday, December 02, 2012

Ooops… I should have posted this earlier, but I think RSVPs may still be accepted even tomorrow… at least, try…

This is an announcement from Common Cause Hawaii (disclosure: I’m on the local board). It’s a subject of interest across the country, and this is the guy heading up an important campaign to undo the damage wreaked by the Supreme Court.

Overturn Citizens United and Amend the Constitution!A special reception featuring Derek Cressman, director of the Campaign to Reverse Citizens United

Join us for a special evening of friends, food, and political reform with Common Cause Hawaii! Meet our visiting expert Derek Cressman, director of the Campaign to Reverse Citizens United and vice president of state operations for Common Cause. Mr. Cressman will share the latest updates on the nationwide movement for a U.S. constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, end corporate personhood, and stop big money from taking over our democracy.Please join us for this special event and support our efforts! RSVP online by this Sunday, December 2.Questions? Contact us at (808) 275-6275 or info@commoncausehawaii.org.Mahalo and see you soon,Nikki Loveand the rest of the team at Common Cause Hawaii

Let me take the opportunity for some comments of my own on why it’s important to reverse the concept that corporations are “people”.

The roots of Citizens United and corporate personhood begins way before the Supreme ruling.

There was another Supreme Court ruling in 1886 that corporations were "persons" and entitled to the same rights granted to people under the Bill of Rights. At that time it was railroads that sought greater powers. Since then, it has proven impossible to fight corporate influence over government.

The Fourteenth Amendment was intended to grant basic rights to freed slaves after the civil war, but it has been used by corporations to gain rights for themselves. Arguably it has benefitted corporate interests far more than it benefitted freed slaves.

While headlines since the Citizens United decision have largely confined the discourse to unfettered campaign spending and its effects on elections, in fact, corporate personhood is a far more extensive threat to citizen democracy.

I suspect it will take strong medicine to reverse this entrenched doctrine. Perhaps Derek Cressman’s visit will help us find the remedy.